Philippines’ Cebu Pacific Air reaches international travelers with more personalized ads

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The Goals

Deliver more personalized ads to travelers interested in key international destinations

Improve return on ad spend (ROAS)

The Approach

Used Data Studio to uncover audience insights based on first-party data

Used Display & Video 360 to create personalized, dynamic ads

Mapped customer research journey via Google Analytics 360

The Results

7X increase in ROAS

+100% click-through rate (CTR)

60% time saved creating ads

Addressing the interests of travelers in APAC

As the Philippines’ leading low-cost carrier, Cebu Pacific Air operates thousands of flights to more than 100 destinations across APAC and the Middle East. Recently, the airline saw a surge in consumer interest for two of its key international destinations: Singapore and Japan. Concerned that its current slate of generic ads weren’t properly promoting these priority routes, Cebu Pacific Air turned to Google Marketing Platform to develop relevant, engaging ads tied to consumer interests.

Measuring, testing, and learning

The airline’s analytics team used Google Analytics 360 to measure page views, bounce rates, bookings, conversion rates, and revenue, which allowed them to assess the return on ad spend (ROAS) across the brand’s campaigns. But Cebu Pacific Air wanted to move beyond campaign metrics, so it partnered with Kasatria, a Google Marketing Platform Partner, and Summit Media, a leading Filipino digital publisher, on a pilot program to better understand the interests of consumers.

Knowing that more relevant ads would lead to higher engagement, Cebu Pacific Air used Data Studio to analyze its first-party data and uncover insights about different audiences. Display & Video 360 hosted dynamic ads that were then automatically personalized based on consumer interests. Using Google Analytics 360, Kasatria mapped the customer research journey from lead generation to conversion, giving Cebu Pacific Air a better understanding of its customer and allowing the airline to further evaluate campaign performance.

Only the most relevant ads were served to users in order to maximize the likelihood of conversion. To support personalization, the team designed and developed ads that were dynamically served to users who exhibited certain behaviors. For example, users looking for travel tips to Singapore were served ads featuring images and flight prices for the destination. The ads were also integrated with a flight search API, which let users perform flight searches within the ads without clicking through to the airline’s website. “This dramatically shortens the customer research journey — the best price is already presented to them right away,” said Yves Kangleon, director of analytics at Cebu Pacific Air.

Cebu Pacific Air soars to success with dynamic ads

The personalized ads drove a 7X increase in ROAS and increased click-through rates by more than 100%. “The best result is that we are able to provide valued customers with a useful and personalized experience throughout their shopping journeys — and it wouldn’t be possible without Google Marketing Platform,” said Candice Iyog, vice president of marketing and distribution at Cebu Pacific Air.

And thanks to the automated approach, the team also documented a 60% reduction in time spent designing creative. “The real breakthrough from this experiment was using Google Marketing Platform to successfully collaborate across different functions within the organization to deliver something in a faster and smarter way. Ultimately, this will allow us to sell more seats and reduce our cost per acquisition over time,” said Iyog.